India beat England by two wickets to win the sixth one-day international at The Oval here Wednesday and level the seven-match series 3-3.

England's total of 316-6, based around Owais Shah's maiden one-day international century and capped by five sixes in the final over from Dimitri Mascarenhas, had looked commanding, but India got off to a superb start.

Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly put on 150 for the first wicket providing the perfect platform for the chase that followed.

Ganguly, who had clashed with Stuart Broad in his first spell after successive bouncers, fell to the younger seamer for 53, slapping him to Kevin Pietersen at cover.

It was Tendulkar, though, who caught the eye, batting quite magnificently until hampered by a leg injury in the later stages of his innings.

After 81 balls that brought 16 fours and a six, he went for 94, brilliantly caught by Paul Collingwood as he drove at Monty Panesar.

"The Indian batting line-up can put you under pressure and Tendulkar and Ganguly got them off to great start," said Collingwood.

Yuvraj Singh made 18 before chipping a return catch to Masceranhas, and India had added only another seven when part-time spinner Owais Shah, who had bowled what might charitably be described as a mixed bag, had Rahul Dravid caught by a diving Collingwood from a leg side half-volley.

Gautam Gambhir hit 47 before skying Mascarenhas to Panesar, who took an excellent running catch, and celebrated with a customary mixture of surprise, relief and joy.

England at that point seemed on top, but MS Dhoni and Robin Uthappa took the game back towards India.

When Dhoni was bowled by a Broad yorker from the final ball of the 48th over, India needed 23 from the last 12 balls.

Two run outs followed, but amid the chaos Uthappa kept his head, and with an innings of 47 from 33 balls, struck the winning boundary from the third-last delivery to take this most enthralling of series to a decider.

"I've never seen Robin bat at seven before," said Dravid. "He's got a good cricketing brain. He's improving all the time and working very hard in nets. Watching him he's begging to be picked. The way he managed the chase was very good."

Shah was the mainstay of England's innings, but far from the only contributor.

Pietersen chipped in with his first half-century of the series, while Luke Wright blasted a highly impressive 50 off 38 balls on his debut.

Mascarenhas then hammered 30 runs off Yuvraj in the final over. Only two men, Herschelle Gibbs and Shahid Afridi, have ever scored more off a single over in ODIs.

The Hampshire batsmen deposited Yuvraj over the long-on boundary five times in six balls.

England had seemed in trouble at 137-5 when Pietersen became the second of three run-outs in the innings.

The first, that of captain Collingwood, was highly controversial as he seemed to have been given not out before a replay on the big-screen persuaded umpire Peter Hartley to refer the decision to the third umpire.

Collingwood, to his credit, accepted the decision with good grace, walking off with only a cursory word with the umpires.

"I was asking if he's allowed to see it on the screen first and then call for a replay," he said.

"The good thing is I'd forgotten about that. It's such a great game that we shouldn't let that change it. I've played against him (Hartley) at county level and I'm sure he'll be a very good umpire."

That could have demoralised England, but Shah, shaping and manufacturing shots cleverly, was superb in an innings that lasted just 95 balls and included 10 fours and two sixes.